SHOULD BE A TOTAL OF 2 REPLIES HALF PAGE EACH WITH ONE SCHOLARLY SOURCE PER REPL

SHOULD BE A TOTAL OF 2 REPLIES HALF PAGE EACH WITH ONE SCHOLARLY SOURCE PER REPLY
TOPIC 1 Fariba
The passage of the Affordable Care Act has accelerated the transition from fee-for-service reimbursement models to payment models that reward providers for better outcomes and efficient care delivery. The number of Americans with at least one chronic health condition is rising, with higher-than-average healthcare utilization rates, making managing their care particularly vital and complicated. The successful management of patients with chronic conditions requires well-coordinated care between providers, patients, and the care team. Proper care coordination assists providers in meeting the “Triple Aim” – better patient experience, improved health for the community, and lower overall costs. Care coordination allows physicians and other care team members to focus on proactive care, rather than react to expensive acute care episodes. Regular communications help engage patients and focus their attention on preventative actions. Most value-based models require providers to demonstrate ongoing quality improvement, patient satisfaction, and lower overall cost of care – rigorous but achievable goals with a strong care coordination structure (Continuum Health,2022).
Unnecessary healthcare spending in the United States may range from $760 billion to $935 billion per year, according to a study published in October in the Journal of the American Medical Association. Of the totals, failures in care coordination account for $27.2 billion to $78.2 billion in waste per year. A separate recent study found that New York’s health information exchange—a statewide network that lets medical facilities share patient information more easily—reduced unnecessary spending by as much as $195 million per year by helping participating clinicians quickly access and share, with patient consent, comprehensive health information, and medical records. Electronic health records (EHRs) could improve care by making clinical data easily accessible to all of a patient’s providers. That would improve the quality of treatment while also saving time and money (Pew Research Center,2019).
Care coordination decreases medication errors, unnecessary or repetitive diagnostic tests, unnecessary emergency room visits, and preventable hospital admissions and readmissions—all of which together lead to a higher quality of care, improved health outcomes, and lower costs. Because delivery of coordinated care necessarily brings together disparate sectors of the healthcare system, improving care coordination offers a potential opportunity for drastically improving care quality that could save $240 billion a year (Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality,2016). Patients with ESRD might have other underlying health issues such as diabetes, hypertension, obesity, and cardiac diseases. It is important for hemodialysis centers staff (RNs, social workers) and other providers (nephrologists, cardiologist, ophthalmologists, podiatrists) coordinate their care to address every aspect of their health concerns to reduce hospitalization and improve their quality of life.
TOPIC 1 JADA
Prompt # 1: What impact does effective care coordination have on quality and or cost outcomes? Do you think that care coordination can reduce hospital readmissions, improve quality of life, and curb health care expenditures? Provide examples from your clinical experience and research findings.
Care coordination used to involve a lot of paperwork and waiting. Referral sheets were faxed back and forth between providers’ offices. In the meantime, duplication or omission of certain tests or medical data had serious potential to cause errors in the patient’s care. Using EMR for coordinated care is an efficient method to streamline the process and to ensure the patient is receiving appropriate and timely care. Electronic medical records improve communication with patients through the use of patient portals and personal health records, which positively improves care quality and cost outcomes. I believe that care coordination and the use of EMR systems can reduce hospital admissions, improve quality of life, and curb health care expenditures. Across the continuum of care, care coordination allows for:
Better integration among providers by improved information sharing which lead to a reduction of medical errors for their patients;
Viewable and up-to-date medication and allergy lists to prevent medical negligence;
Standardization of data, order sets, and care plans helping to implement common treatment of patients using evidence-based medicine;
Access to experts for rural health care providers by sharing best practices and allowing for specialized care through telemedicine;
Population management trended data and treatment and outcome studies;
More convenient, faster, and simpler disease management (Manca, 2015).
Examples from clinical experience and research findings:
The EMR allows clinicians and care coordinators to see a larger number of patients through better access to comprehensive patient histories that include clinical data, which might help the medical and care management team spend less time searching for results and reports. For instance, the benefits include remote access to patient charts, improved laboratory result availability, medication error alerts, and reminders for preventive care for both the team and patient (Manca, 2015). At the clinic I work at, data inputted by the providers and new patient lab results are available with the touch of a button rather than through a series of phone calls and traditional faxes. Using EMR for care coordination ensures the patient’s medical information is accurate and current, and provides for higher quality outcomes.